The DANY Studios Master Class Series began on Friday, March 5 with a class taught by Doug Varone and Dancers company member Julia Burrer. Along with an enthusiastic group of dancers, Joyce Education Assistant (and accomplished dancer) Aston McCullough was guided through a class that focused momentum and gravity within the body.

Julia Burrer hails from Austin, Texas and graduated from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance. She studied abroad at Rotterdamse Dansacademie in the Netherlands, and performed at the Hong Kong International Dance Festival in the summer of 2006. Julia has been a member of Doug Varone and Dancers since 2007.

Aston was kind enough to report back on his experiences at the class:

“In Julia’s three-hour master class, dancers investigated a sense of bodily ease, subtlety of motion, and the power of focus while executing complex movement sequences which, at times, required dancers to teeter off the edges of greater space. Quick directional changes were accentuated by arms slicing clear pathways, leading into whipped turns. Dancers were asked to extend their focus beyond the studio windows and into the surrounding streets of Manhattan, as we danced to the musical accompaniment of such artists as Dianna Ross and Radiohead. Burrer masterfully laced pertinent imagery into the lesson, asking us to be “melting butter” or at the center of an erupting geyser to aid our moving, feeling bodies in the process of dancing. After a rousing two-hour technique class, dancers were invited to learn an excerpt from Doug Varone’s notable work, Rise (1993).”

To experience a class like this one for yourself, join us as The DANY Studios Master Class Series continues this Friday, March 12 with a class taught by Lyon Opera Ballet company member Jocelyne Mocognia. RSVP by contacting Maggie Lockhart at mlockhart@joyce.org.